Scientists Sue For Right To Study Kennewick Man Experts Claim Ancient Skeleton Is Not Ancestor Of Modern Indians
Eight prominent anthropologists argue that they have a constitutional right to study Kennewick Man, the most complete and second-oldest skeleton ever found in the Northwest.
Their motion was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.
It details the studies proposed by the scientists, ranging from analyzing the skeleton’s dental plaque to its genetic makeup.
The skeleton was found last summer along the Columbia River in Kennewick. Its Caucasian features initially led scientists to think the remains were those of an early white settler. But carbon-dating showed the bones to be 9,300 to 9,600 years old.
The scientists filed a lawsuit in October after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, citing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, decided to turn the skeleton over to Northwest Indian tribes who want to rebury it.
The scientists say a skeleton that old is a national treasure and no evidence exists that Kennewick Man is the ancestor of modern Indians.
Their motion argues that the 1990 Repatriation Act doesn’t prohibit scientific study and that the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees their right to receive information through study.
“Our position is that the corps made its decision without adequate scientific evidence,” said Alan L. Schneider, an attorney for the scientists. “We need to get the basic scientific data, and at that point, we can say it is Native American or not Native American. This is what the corps should have considered to begin with.”
A small religious group called the Asatru Folk Assembly, based in Nevada City, Calif., has filed a separate lawsuit against the corps. The group practices what it calls a pre-Christian European tribal religion worshipping gods and goddesses.
Church officials want the skeleton turned over to them to determine whether the remains are ancient European.
U.S. Magistrate John Jelderks recently denied a corps motion seeking dismissal of the two lawsuits.
But officials of Northwest Indian tribes want no study done of Kennewick Man. Tribes that have filed a claim to the skeleton include the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Wanapum Band, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
“There’s been enough studying and testing done,” Colville attorney Marla Big Boy said recently. “We want to rebury this individual where he was found.”
xxxx PROPOSED STUDIES OF KENNEWICK MAN Studies of Kennewick Man as proposed by scientists in their motion: DNA testing. Robson Bonnichsen, director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Oregon State University, wants an analysis to determine genetic relationships. Skeletal measurements. C. Loring Brace, anthropologist at the University of Michigan, wants these to compare with a database of more than 6,000 ancient remains from both Asia and North America. This will help determine how closely related Kennewick Man is to eastern Asians or modern American Indians. D. Gentry Steele, anthropologist at Texas A&M, wants to make observations of 91 anatomical features known to vary among populations. Cranial measurements. George W. Gill, an anthropologist and forensics specialist at the University of Wyoming, wants to study the facial and cranial bones of Kennewick Man. He said the bones of Caucasians and American Indians differ in several ways. Dental studies. Amy L. Ollendorf, and archaeologist and paleoecologist with Braun Intertec Corp. in Minnesota, wants to study the plaque on Kennewick Man’s teeth to determine what he ate. Joseph F. Powell, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico, wants dental measurements. He is an expert on dental variation among Paleo-American groups. Christy G. Turner II of Arizona State University wants to analyze 29 dental traits that are genetically determined. Radiocarbon dating. Thomas W. Stafford Jr., director of the Laboratory for AMS Radiocarbon Research at the University of Colorado, wants to analyze a small amount of bone protein in his lab using accelerator mass spectrometry to verify the age of the skeleton. Database information. Anthropologists Douglas W. Owsley of the Smithsonian Institution and Richard L. Jantz of the University of Tennessee have compiled a database of more than 6,000 remains from North America that range in age from about 200 years old to more than 9,000 years old. They take more than 60 separate measurements of cranial features and more than 70 measurements of other skeletal features. -Associated Press